2020 TW3
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Today	7 Jan 2026	28.6	3.193 AU	4.077 AU	20h49m	-26°14'	22.7°	6.8°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of 2020 TW3 are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.6858602
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.0909389
            i (Inclination)                 : 10.82069
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 28.68601
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 87.41426
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 229.63438
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 116.05353
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 10.80954
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.02            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-01-07 00:00 UT   20 49 17.9   -26 14 27     4.077    3.193   22.7    6.8    94   28.6 
2026-01-07 15:19 UT   20 50 06.9   -26 10 40     4.079    3.191   22.3    6.7    95   28.6 
2026-01-08 00:00 UT   20 50 34.7   -26 08 31     4.079    3.189   22.1    6.6    95   28.6 
2026-01-09 00:00 UT   20 51 51.8   -26 02 34     4.081    3.186   21.4    6.5    95   28.5 
2026-01-10 00:00 UT   20 53 09.0   -25 56 35     4.083    3.182   20.7    6.3    96   28.5 
2026-01-11 00:00 UT   20 54 26.4   -25 50 34     4.085    3.179   20.1    6.1    97   28.5 
2026-01-12 00:00 UT   20 55 44.0   -25 44 31     4.086    3.175   19.4    5.9    98   28.5 
2026-01-13 00:00 UT   20 57 01.9   -25 38 27     4.087    3.172   18.8    5.7    98   28.5 
2026-01-14 00:00 UT   20 58 19.9   -25 32 21     4.088    3.168   18.1    5.5    99   28.5 
2026-01-15 00:00 UT   20 59 38.0   -25 26 13     4.089    3.165   17.5    5.4   100   28.5 
2026-01-16 00:00 UT   21 00 56.4   -25 20 03     4.090    3.161   16.9    5.2   101   28.5 
2026-01-17 00:00 UT   21 02 14.9   -25 13 52     4.090    3.158   16.3    5.0   102   28.5 
2026-01-18 00:00 UT   21 03 33.6   -25 07 39     4.090    3.154   15.6    4.8   103   28.4 
2026-01-19 00:00 UT   21 04 52.4   -25 01 25     4.090    3.150   15.0    4.7   105   28.4 
2026-01-20 00:00 UT   21 06 11.4   -24 55 09     4.090    3.147   14.5    4.5   106   28.4 
2026-01-21 00:00 UT   21 07 30.5   -24 48 51     4.090    3.143   13.9    4.3   107   28.4 
2026-01-22 00:00 UT   21 08 49.7   -24 42 32     4.089    3.139   13.3    4.1   109   28.4 
2026-01-23 00:00 UT   21 10 09.1   -24 36 11     4.088    3.136   12.7    4.0   111   28.4 
2026-01-24 00:00 UT   21 11 28.6   -24 29 48     4.087    3.132   12.2    3.8   113   28.4 
2026-01-25 00:00 UT   21 12 48.3   -24 23 24     4.086    3.128   11.7    3.7   115   28.4 
2026-01-26 00:00 UT   21 14 08.0   -24 16 58     4.084    3.124   11.2    3.5   117   28.3 
2026-01-27 00:00 UT   21 15 27.8   -24 10 31     4.083    3.120   10.7    3.4   120   28.3 
2026-01-28 00:00 UT   21 16 47.8   -24 04 02     4.081    3.117   10.2    3.2   122   28.3 
2026-01-29 00:00 UT   21 18 07.8   -23 57 32     4.079    3.113    9.8    3.1   125   28.3 
2026-01-30 00:00 UT   21 19 28.0   -23 51 00     4.077    3.109    9.4    3.0   129   28.3 
2026-01-31 00:00 UT   21 20 48.2   -23 44 27     4.074    3.105    9.0    2.9   132   28.3 
2026-02-01 00:00 UT   21 22 08.5   -23 37 52     4.072    3.101    8.7    2.8   136   28.3 
2026-02-02 00:00 UT   21 23 28.9   -23 31 16     4.069    3.097    8.4    2.7   140   28.3 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.